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There will be no school-sponsored winter sports in Henrico County this year, school officials announced Monday.
The decision came in light of rising COVID-19 case incidence locally and tighter state restrictions about indoor events, according to Henrico Schools spokesman Andy Jenks.
Fall sports were delayed until the spring (with a start date of Feb. 4), and Henrico Schools officials will evaluate in January the possibility of allowing those sports to take place, Jenks wrote in a message posted on the school system’s website and sent to families.
“We are already seeing the increase in community-based cases directly impact some of our teams in their out-of-season athletic conditioning programs,” he wrote.
Because of the new state guidelines that limit indoor gatherings to 250, the school system would not have allowed spectators to attend indoor sporting events, Jenks wrote.
“The circumstances described above created numerous challenges for our athletic programming, including the ability to keep our student-athletes safe and healthy (basketball, sideline cheer, gymnastics, indoor track, swimming and wrestling all take place indoors, in competitive environments where physical distancing cannot be maintained),” he wrote. “While we regret having to take this position, which will no doubt be disappointing to many of our student-athletes, we will always prioritize the health and safety of everyone involved.”
In addition to the decision about winter sports, officials also suspended all out-of-season conditioning programs until further notice.
Students involved in sports should expect to hear additional information from their coaches or student activities directors soon, Jenks wrote.
